SotB XLIII: Profits Without Borders
Despite the humanitarian crisis on Zygerria, the Corporate Sector moves in to take over the devastated planet's orbital station... Agents Session 1 * Domdees * Gristle * Hack * Makren Duvel * Rogesh Vai * (Saber Scintel) * Zeevo the Hutt Session 2 * Erdo * Eve * Mektiss * R0C-K4 * Roncas * (Shorbecca) * Tortie Mission Report Summary by Ben Following the return of Zygerria’s former king, Alberon, and the subsequent Imperial bombardment of the planet, the Empire has left the planet’s orbital station in the hands of the Corporate Sector. After the ordeal on Onderon, the agents are contacted by Renci Tosh, who asks them to rendezvous with her. They meet aboard her ship, the Tallera Sky, and are also met by Kluus and Miraj Neuanfang, two zygerrian rebel sympathizers. Renci intends to use the agents to oppose the CSA in the Alliance’s stead, since they can’t openly move ships to counter the threat and aid the wounded zygerrian people. She suggests that they gain the help of Alberon, now known as the Pirate King, to draw off the CSA from the station in order to set up a relief effort that will then be unassailable. Rogesh puts forth the idea to approach the king in disguise and then assassinate him when the deal is done, but Makren and Gristle disagree, seeing honesty as a better approach for the long run. With the simple approach in mind, the agents contact King Alberon and immediately put forth their proposal, offering the throne of Zygerria in exchange for his help in setting up the humanitarian effort. He seems intrigued enough by the idea of regaining the throne and agrees to meet. He first requests a meeting aboard his own ship, The Master, but the agents put forth the suggestion of meeting on neutral ground, specifically in a cantina aboard The Wheel. The king agrees and each party makes haste for the meeting, which will take place in Tasia’s Tapcafe, an Alderaanian-owned restaurant. Alberon is interested in the scheme, but doubts the agents’ ability to actually take over and establish their effort on the station. They assure him that they are capable, and that they can gather some more assistance from other sectors. Before the operation begins, the king does request that they return one of his daughters, Zymeria, seemingly catching onto the fact that they are agents of the Broker. After concluding the meeting, the agents follow through and retrieve Zymeria. She appears to be the most intelligent of her sisters, making for an important asset in Alberon’s ability to devise his strategy. From there, the agents contact the Hidden Dagger Pirates in order to gain their help, putting forth an offer of 15,000 credits. The pirates eagerly agree, already having a score to settle with the CSA, and they put as many resources as possible into their part of the fight. The agents plan to use Alberon’s YT-1300 as a decoy, flying ahead of the pirates in order to pass themselves off as a freighter crew under attack. Alberon seems adamant that they must completely destroy the CSA fleet, but Makren convinces him that just drawing the opposing ships off would be a better idea, and that bringing the Master deeper into the fight would also be wise, in order to present a greater threat. After positioning the fleet in their staging zone, the group makes the jump to Zygerria. Their formation breaks up a bit in transit, but they proceed with the plan. However, the CSA authorities aren’t allowing anything but CSA ships to approach the station. With the ruse rendered moot, the agents break off to head toward the station while the Master closes in with the pirates to fire off a volley at one of the defending gunships and the foremost squadron of fighters tags a squadron of CSA fighters with concussion missiles. One of the Hidden Daggers YT-2400s moves in to mop up the enemy vanguard. With the two fleets becoming entangled, the agents make a beeline for the station and head for the far side to begin drilling the YT-1300’s boarding tube into its hull. Alberon’s fleet pulls into a close brawl with the CSA forces, landing several crippling hits on one of the gunships after several volleys of missiles. A freshly launched squadron of CSA fighters breaks off to pursue the agents as they continue to drill, so the Hidden Daggers send one of their YT-2400s to cover them. All of the pirates begin focusing fire on the wounded gunship, exposing its reactor in time for a squadron of Hidden Daggers to land several key shots, rupturing its structure completely and disabling it. The other gunship also quickly succumbs as Alberon closes in aboard the Master, launching a salvo of proton torpedoes to mortally wound it. The CSA then immediately surrenders, but Zymeria and her father seem set on completely obliterating the corporate defenders. Makren and Gristle call in to convince them to stand down. The boarding tube quickly finishes its work and Rogesh convinces the CSA aboard to stand down as well. Rogesh requests that one of the guards take him to the command center, but he seems reluctant. Hack starts to slice into the station’s systems, but finds that most of the information there has been wiped, as if by an EMP. He accesses the station’s cameras and finds the control center empty with smashes datapads on the ground, but no signs of CSA officers. On the station map, he also finds a section labeled ‘restricted zone.’ Hack slices into the turbolifts to give them access to said zone, and the agents ride down to the designated spire. Upon arriving, they notice a horrible stench and a barricade. After clearing it, they find a crowd of people huddled up - wounded and sick - all zygerrians. They’re the former attendants of the station, left to die in the gangway by the CSA. Gristle immediately begins setting up the relief effort, preparing the equipment they’d brought aboard the YT-1300 while they wait for the Alliance’s mercy ships to arrive. At the same time, The Master docks and Alberon comes aboard to address the sickly and wounded zygerrians, attempting to incite them into a war against the CSA. Makren interjects in an attempt to dissuade him and bring out the zygerrians’ better nature. They seem taken by Alberon’s words and thirsty for blood, but Rogesh does manage to convince them to only kill the CSA officers, some of which have already shed their uniforms, thus saving most of the CSA personnel while allowing the zygerrians to have their revenge. Hack slices into the datapads recovered from the command center and finds messages about radio broadcasts coming from the surface of Zygerria at random intervals, indicating that there may still be survivors on the planet’s surface. SotB 043